The 2011 and 2012 drafts brought in a new era for the NFL with the rookie pay scale. Instead of contracts worth $60m guaranteed, #1 overall picks were now signing fully guaranteed $22m deals. Since the pay-cap was introduced we’ve seen seven quarterbacks drafted with top-12 picks.

Teams know it’s much less of a gamble these days to chance your arm on a quarterback. To win in this league you need an effective signal caller. The teams picking in the top ten know this because most found out the hard way.

Kansas City had multiple players at the Pro Bowl but finished with the leagues worst record. Why? No quarterback. Drafting Luke Joeckel to replace Branden Albert won’t solve this problem. Andy Reid can’t start off his regime with another year of second-guessing at the position. He has his pick of the group with the #1 pick. While there’s no Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III out there, he’ll surely identify a quarterback he believes he can win with.

Once the first quarterback leaves the board, others will fall. We could see three or four going early. This is the way the NFL draft appears to be heading. The potential benefit of finding a franchise quarterback far outweighs the gamble of drafting one in the first round.

2 – A run on defensive lineman

We could also see a run on defensive ends and defensive tackles — two positions that’ll probably be quite high on Seattle’s radar. In this weeks mock I have nine defensive line prospects leaving the board before the Seahawks are on the clock.

Last year seven defensive lineman were off the board before the #25 pick despite none going in the top ten. This year we should see multiple early picks.

The Seahawks need to improve the teams pass rush as a priority, but they can’t and almost certainly won’t force the issue. There will come a tipping point when they have to look elsewhere. This could impact how they approach free agency. If a Henry Melton, Randy Starks, Cliff Avril or Osi Umenyiora makes it to the open market, do you start writing cheques? Can you afford to go into the draft knowing if you wait until the 25th pick you could be looking at the tenth best defensive lineman? Or worse?

I like to mix things up with the mocks — offer different suggestions and create debate. I’ve gone in a different direction this week...

The Seahawks have taken players that were considered reaches the last two years, but they drafted to fill a big need both times. We will either draft d-line or wide reciever in the first round, WILL backer is not that big of a need for us, I'm pretty sure we won't go WILL backer in the first round, maybe round 3 or 4

While I would absolutely love the Hunter pick and would buy a jersey immediately, I really don't see that type of talent falling to almost the third round. He will be two years removed from the injury and a lot of the "bad" year has been attributed to getting comfortable with his new knee so to speak. Sure he will have to explain a sudden case of the "dropsies" but would be surprised to see him make it past round 1. Teams draft on potential (think Jets/Stephen Hill) and Justin is oozing with it.

Should excite the guys thinking of moving Kam to LB. From what I have read, and watched very little, this guy brings speed to the position and would be a huge step up in coverage. Downside, he isn't huge and gets lost in the scrums. I think Wagner will be sniffing plays out sooner next year and getting where he needs to be, making it easier for a speedster to recognize and make the hit behind him. AND remember rookie-year LeRoy Hill, all the blitzing?!

Though I am a really big fan of Greene, I seriously doubt that the Seahawks invest a first round pick in a WILL linebacker...unless he is an absolute game-changer. The league wide valuation of the WILL position has seemingly plummeted over the past 5 years. Granted, we all know that the Seahawks front-office marches to a beat of a different drummer, great value at the WILL position is found throughout rounds 2-5.

If you look back at the last 3 drafts, only one WILL linebacker was selected in the first round. Sean Weatherspoon was selected number 19 in the 2010 draft by the Falcons. Only three WILL linebackers total have been selected in the first two rounds of the last 3 drafts. Besides Weatherspoon, no WILL linebackers were selected in rounds 1 and 2 in 2011, and Zach Brown and Lavonte David were selected at the end of the second round of last years draft. Since Carroll and Schneider have taken over the front office of the Seahawks, the WILL position has been an area of need, yet they have only drafted one Weakside Linebacker over the past 3 drafts - Malcolm Smith in the 7th round. Not only has the league de-emphasized the WILL position, our front office does not seem to look at this position as one of dire need. Remember how many people mocked both Brown and David in the first round of last years draft? Yet both almost fell out of the second round

I really like both Greene and Arthur Brown - but I really doubt either go before the mid-second round, and I seriously doubt the Seahawks consider a OLB in the first

Spleenhawk2.0 wrote:Though I am a really big fan of Greene, I seriously doubt that the Seahawks invest a first round pick in a WILL linebacker...unless he is an absolute game-changer. The league wide valuation of the WILL position has seemingly plummeted over the past 5 years. Granted, we all know that the Seahawks front-office marches to a beat of a different drummer, great value at the WILL position is found throughout rounds 2-5.

If you look back at the last 3 drafts, only one WILL linebacker was selected in the first round. Sean Weatherspoon was selected number 19 in the 2010 draft by the Falcons. Only three WILL linebackers total have been selected in the first two rounds of the last 3 drafts. Besides Weatherspoon, no WILL linebackers were selected in rounds 1 and 2 in 2011, and Zach Brown and Lavonte David were selected at the end of the second round of last years draft. Since Carroll and Schneider have taken over the front office of the Seahawks, the WILL position has been an area of need, yet they have only drafted one Weakside Linebacker over the past 3 drafts - Malcolm Smith in the 7th round. Not only has the league de-emphasized the WILL position, our front office does not seem to look at this position as one of dire need. Remember how many people mocked both Brown and David in the first round of last years draft? Yet both almost fell out of the second round

I really like both Greene and Arthur Brown - but I really doubt either go before the mid-second round, and I seriously doubt the Seahawks consider a OLB in the first